A Challenging Year At Noccalula Falls

You all know the old saying, “Into each life a little rain must fall.” Well 2022 was the year for Noccalula Falls. We’ve faced challenge after challenge this year and we have managed to face them all head on and as October 13th, we are nearing the end of each and every one of them.

Let’s talk Trains. Our biggest challenge of the year came from our purchase of two brand new, built to spec electric trains. We were under the impression that it would be a simple task to get two new trains online very quickly. We were not correct. Let me just say that there are a lot of moving parts that go into the changeover from one train type to another.

Here is a list for the curious.

1. The new trains are wider and longer. “You are going to need to redesign that track of yours.”
2. The new trains are all electric. “We will be fine. We have plenty of electricity around the park. Oh wait, no we don’t. We will need it to be brought up to the latest code.”
3. You may want to look at your current drainage and make sure there are no issues. “Well lookie there, with the new track regrading, there are a few pools of standing water. We have to fix that!”
4. The track layout will need to be adjusted in height and grade, “Hey, we are going to have to drill through solid rock to regrade!”
5. Let’s take the opportunity of clearing a few trees while we are at it. “Whoa! These trees are really rooted well. This might be harder than we thought.”
6. The new electric is going to be underground. “Break out the jackhammers and the trencher boys! We have to start digging!”
7. Let’s do another survey. “Sure.”

These are just a few of the train issues. It just goes to show that no matter how well you plan a project, some things are still going to happen to slow you down. I didn’t even go into the problems all the construction caused with day-to-day operations of running a park safely. We’ve limited access and rerouted paths and done everything we could to keep the park safe for visitors.

And after all that, we are so near the end of a challenging year. Wow!

The trains will be ready. The electricity will be ready. The paths and trails will be ready. Our people will be ready. Everything will be ready…

November 24th, 2022, Christmas at the Falls opens that Thanksgiving Night!!!

All of the hard work will pay off that next 30 days as we will welcome almost 100,000 guest to the park. They will be the first to ride the new trains and wander through over 2,000,000 lights displayed throughout the park.

This year looks to be our best season ever. The staff of Noccalula Falls thanks you for being patient with us all through this year. We really can’t thank you enough but we promise that you are going to love all of the improvements we are making and have made to Noccalula Falls Park.

Please join us for all of the fun at Christmas at the Falls 2022!!! Tickets are only available online at www.noccalulafallspark.com. See you there!!!

One of the new Noccalula Falls Trains!